Scraptastic Spider Quilt: Child's Play

In our July Ambassador boxes, each Island Batik Ambassador was sent a BOB die from Accuquilt.  BOB stands for Block on Board, meaning all the pieces for one block are on the die and can be cut at once.  I was a little nervous when other ambassadors started getting their boxes because many got dies with curved pieces and I *hate* piecing curves.  I was excited when I got the Spider Web die!  No curves, and perfect for the September theme "Child's Play."

The materials used in this quilt were provided to me by Island Batik., Accuquilt, Aurifil, and Hobbs.

When I started thinking about the Spider Web die and Spider Web quilt, I knew two things right away.  First, it was important to have a spider.  Second, I did not want it to be scary.

I decided that going scrappy would look great in with this block. There are scraps from every Island Batik project I've done so far this year (except the rayon from my dress).  The solid gray was perfect for the background. I think all the colors go great with the idea of Child's Play.

I layered scraps onto the die and rolled it through the cutter.  I sorted the three different sizes of web pieces into little baskets, making it easy to mix up all the pieces for a thoroughly scrappy look.  I kept identical fabrics from touching but didn't worry too much about similar color families, knowing there were so many different fabrics that random placement would look great.

One of the campuses of the community college where I work has a great spider web sculpture made by a past group of welding students.  I really wanted to get pictures with the sculpture. 

You can see the large spiral quilting I did with Auriful thread color 2615 (50 weight thread).  I also used Aurifil for the satin stitching around each of the spiders.  The spider template came from The Seasoned Homemaker, though I altered the size a bit and took out the fangs.  Like I said, it was important to me that this not be a scary quilt.   

The batting is Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 cotton batting.  This is probably my all-time favorite batting; it's the perfect weight.  True to the "Child's Play" theme, this will be a child's quilt.  The baby quit I made for a good friend's daughter was damaged by the family dog, and though I was able to salvage some of it, I promised I'd make another quilt.  That baby girl is now almost three.  I asked her mom how Lady Bug felt about spiders and was told, "good."  When I showed the mom photos of the center spider, she loved it and asked if one of the other spiders could be pink.  No problem!

 It's 48" square, a good size for cuddling.  I really love how fun and colorful this turned out! This was #5 on my list of Q3 goals for the Finish Along.